Arunachal Pradesh on the edge as Tuki faces floor test today

ITANAGAR: Arunachal Pradesh appeared headed for another round of political turmoil with Governor (acting) Tathagata Roy refusing to entertain reinstated Chief Minister Nabam Tuki’s plea to defer the floor test, scheduled for Saturday.

Tuki met the Governor in Raj Bhavan around 1 pm on Friday and requested him to defer the floor test by at least 10 days, but Roy stuck to his guns.

A statement issued by the Raj Bhavan said, “Citing apprehension that the present State government does not command required majority in the Assembly, the Governor asked the Chief Minister to prove his majority on the floor of the State Legislative Assembly on July 16. He also emphasised that sense of security amongst the people must prevail and deterrent action must be taken to ensure fool-proof law and order arrangement in the State.”

Tuki had earlier sent a letter to the Governor in which he sought “reasonable” time to prove his majority. He termed the Governor’s direction for holding a floor test “not later than Saturday” as “unwarranted” and a “hasty decision”. Referring to the recommendations of Sarkaria and Punchhi Commissions on Centre-State relations, Tuki said, “Generally, a period of 30 days will be reasonable unless there is very urgent business to be transacted such as passing the budget.” He noted that most of the MLAs were not in the city and they would not be able to attend the floor test if summoned on or before July 16.